Chapter 9
After lunch, Kara heard a distinct ringing in her ears. But it wasn’t at all pleasant. In fact, it was giving her a bit of a headache. She rubbed her temples and closed her eyes, hoping it was just a really powerful dog whistle somewhere. But when the sound intensified, it reverberated around her head and she let out a soft whimper.
Cat looked up and saw her assistant clearly in pain and got up, walking over to her. “Kara, are you alright?” She put her hand on the girl’s shoulder and jumped when she realized that Kara was shaking.
Kara turned her eyes to her boss and had to shut them again, the sound too much, feeling like she was going to pass out. Cat looked over the desk and grabbed the girl’s phone, quickly searching for a number to call. Her first call was, thankfully, the first number in Kara’s phone; Alex. She hurriedly told her what was happening and once she knew the other woman was on the way, she hung up. She then went a bit further and found Clark’s number. She dialed him as well but there was no answer. She panicked, wondering if whatever was happening to her assistant was also happening to her cousin.
She went around Kara’s desk and knelt in front of the girl who was now bent over in pain. “Kara?”
The hero shook, her whole body vibrating in pain. “M-make it st-op.” Her voice was weak and it sounded as if she was starting to lose consciousness.
The elevator dinged and, in front of the whole staff, Alex ran out with three other DEO agents in full tactical gear towards Kara. “What’s going on?”
Cat stood, her hand on Kara’s back. “I don’t know. She suddenly started looking like she was in pain. She’s been clutching her head and shaking. I tried calling Su-her cousin but he won’t pick up.”
Alex knelt down in front of her sister and put her hands on her cheeks. “Kara, sweetie. Can you hear me?” When she got a small nod, she kissed her sister on the head and looked to the other agents. “Grab the stretcher. Let’s get her out of here.”
Within minutes, they had Kara laid out with a heart monitor attached. A thick sheen of sweat had built up on her forehead and her eyes were still scrunched tight in pain. “Where are you taking her?”
Alex looked at the older woman. “Somewhere where we can help her.”
“I’m coming too.” Cat went to follow but felt a hand on her chest. “She’s my employee. I demand to stay with her.”
Alex stepped closer to Cat and whispered. “And you are also dating her which means you’re too emotional to come. I promise I will update you as soon as we have something.”
The media mogul grabbed Alex’s arm and stopped her from turning away. “You’re her sister. Are you not as emotionally invested in her as I am?”
The agent sighed. “More than you could ever imagine, Cat.” She looked down at Kara who was now on the brink of passing out. “Fine. But you stay quiet and you let us do our jobs.”
Cat nodded and let go of the brunette. “Deal.”
--
By the time they arrived at the DEO, Kara had been out cold for a while. They hooked her up to monitors and tried to get an IV going but she hadn’t lost her powers. Which, they all agreed, was a good thing. The DEO also tried contacting Superman because there was a good chance that whatever was happening to Kara was also happening to him. He wasn’t responding to calls, texts, or even James’s watch. So Alex called Lois and got the information of where he was staying and a small team went out to retrieve him from his hotel.
Alex and Cat sat and watched as Kara laid under the sun bed, her face still twisted in pain despite not being conscious. The two women had gone over the events of the day, trying to figure out if something had happened earlier, but nothing stood out of the ordinary. Only that suddenly, Kara seemed to be in distress.
By the time Clark was being rolled in on a stretcher, they were all getting worried. Clearly this had something to do with them being aliens. But then why were none of the prisoners experiencing any issues? Could it have been Kryptonian specific? Alex took in this new information and went to her lab, leaving at to watch over his sister.
When they were alone, Cat took Kara’s hand and rubbed her thumb along the back of it. “Kara, darling, please wake up. Tell me what’s wrong so we can help.” She sat like that for close to an hour before the girl’s eyes opened. “Kara?”
The hero looked up at her boss but had to close her eyes tight. “Hurts…”
Cat leaned forward to hear her. “What hurts, sweetheart?”
“Head. Noise…” Kara struggled to get out more than a few words, the sound in her head making it painful to speak.
But it was all Cat needed. “I’ll be right back.” She ran across the hall to Alex’s office and threw open the door. “She’s awake. She says there’s a noise causing all of this.”
Alex looked up at bit her lip. “That would explain a lot. A high enough frequency could be doing this. Sort of like when we get bad headaches and loud noises or bright lights make it worse.” She then stood. “I’ll turn down the intensity of the sun bed and hopefully that will help.” Alex walked out of the office and back across the hall to try and help her sister. She didn’t know what was happening, but whatever it was was clearly deliberate and had the sole purpose of taking both Supergirl and Superman out of commission; possibly for good.